ABSTRACT
Good palliative care should be an integral part of the care of every patient, irrespective of the stage of their illness, and may contribute towards improving the health of the population. Specialist palliative care services are those with palliative care as their core speciality. They demand a high level of professional skill from trained staff, and are required by a significant minority of people whose deaths are anticipated. Visiting Regional Cancer Working Groups have influenced the shaping of cancer and palliative care services. Their role has been to visit cancer units and centres to ascertain that the Calman-Hine initiatives have been implemented. Acute hospital trusts, community trusts and hospices are providers of specialist palliative care. The palliative care strategy group members should include providers of specialist palliative care, strategic health authorities and primary care organisation personnel involved in the Cancer Health Improvement and Modernisation Programme (HIMP), hospital trusts, social services and the community health council or successor body.
